


Stolen Books and True Love

by imgilmoregirl



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Mentions to previous miscarriage, One Shot, Prompt Fic, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-27 21:35:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13889589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imgilmoregirl/pseuds/imgilmoregirl
Summary: Alice and Robin take a look at Rumple's travelling book together and take some conclusions about love.Winner of Best CuriousArcher in the R.H.E.A!





	Stolen Books and True Love

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon A Time or any of the characters and storylines in the show. This is just a fanwork made for fun.
> 
> Anonymous prompted on tumblr: “If we get caught I’m blaming you.”+ madarcher?  
> Yay, my first MadArcher! I was kind of dying to write them ever since I got to see more of Robin in the last episode. So, it actually ended up with a bit of Rumbelle too, but would love two write more about those two wonderful girls.  
> I hope you like it!

As curious as Alice was, she would never, at any circumstances go through Rumplestiltskin's things, both because she respected his space and because she was pretty sure he would freak out if he caught her with one of his precious trinkets, like the damaged cup. The same couldn't be said about Robin, however. Zelena's daughter was quite an adventurous thing and most of the times in which she came to the shack in the middle of the woods, where her girlfriend lived with her imp-friend, she was fascinated by the collection displayed in a few shelves and always begged Alice to allow her to take a look at those things, which the other girl always denied.

It couldn't be different in that day. It all had started with the two of them sat against a three doing what they called "practicing" and discovering all the new, interesting ways their mouths could work together when, in a pause for breath, Robin suggested they entered the shack and took the opportunity that Rumple wasn't at home to see what he had hidden in there. Alice hadn't liked this idea, but as excited as Robin was, she couldn't keep her from rushing inside the house with a giant smile on her lips. The blonde girl went immediately to the shelves, hands running across the cover of Rumplestiltskin's travelling book.

"Whoa, this looks interesting, where do you think he have already gone to?"

"Lots of places," Alice quickly answered, staring at the book as if it could start to burn at any second, "now pull it down, please. You have no idea how much he cherishes it."

"Relax, babe," Robin said, rolling her eyes and taking a seat by the small dining table, "he won't show up just now."

Oh, she didn't know the ability Rumplestiltskin had of suddenly appearing out of nowhere. Alice had gotten used by now, but it used to surprise her quite a lot when they first met. She had been living here and there until that day she ran on him in that road and started to follow the old man around, doing some jobs for him - like keeping an eye at his grandson, Henry - and he built this shack and bought her food in exchange.

"If we get caught," Alice started, "I'm blaming you!"

But Robin wasn't listening to her, she opened the travelling book, seeing a photograph of Belle - the wife - and a blondish toddler. It was a blurry picture and she had a grimace stamped on her face, the boy trying to reach for something she couldn't see.

"Oh, look it's Gideon! He was a cute baby."

"Did you know them?" Alice asked. "His family?"

"Not really," her girlfriend shrugged, turning the page. "I know that his wife, Belle, played my babysitter quite a few times. My mom says she was really sweet and smart."

Alice nodded. She always got herself thinking she wished to have known Rumplestiltskin's wife, because if someone could make the old man smile like a fool as he did in most of those pictures, them it was certainly someone worth her time. He had promised Alice he would take her to meet his boy, Gideon at some point, but it all had change a while ago, when he got his impish appearance back, because of her. His son hadn't known him like this - what he considered a monster - and Rumple didn't want Gideon to see him this way.

"He really loved them. He still does."

"Mm, I think this is in chronological order..." Robin murmured to herself, going forward to see the most recent photos, finding a couple of Rumple and Belle grey and weary in their house at the Edge of the Realms. "Oh yeah, I'm plenty sure it is. They look so old in this one."

The girl nodded in agreement, watching as Robin went back to where she was before, analysing the oldest pictures, in which Belle and a little boy smiled happily at the camera.

"She was beautiful," Alice murmured.

Looking up at her, Robin arched an eyebrow.

"Are you preferring brunettes now? Because I can dye my hair?"

Brow narrowing in confusion, the girl questioned: "Dye your hair?"

"It's a thing from this other world I've told you about, you just change the colour using a product."

Ever since Alice discovered there was this other world she could see in Rumplestiltskin's pictures, where people lived in a totally different way she thought it was very weird. She remembered when he first showed a couple of photos to her, all from this same book, and she spent hours filling him with questions about that place, asking what exactly those huge weird towers were and if it was ever allowed for woman to wear such tiny clothing like that thing he called a _bikini_.

"Don't do this, I like your hair."

"And I like yours," Robin replied stealing a quick kiss from her pinkish lips. "Now back to the photos."

Turning another page, they saw a new picture, in which Rumple was carrying Gideon in his shoulders, the little boy, covering his eyes, as he laughed spontaneously.

"Have I already told you he thought I would do I good match for his son when we first met?"

"Poor guy," her girlfriend chuckled, moving her fingers to the next page, where they saw Belle, wearing a tight emerald dress, that accented the small slight curve of her stomach. "Oh, look, I think she is pregnant in this one. Did he tell you about a third child?"

Alice thought about it for a second, searching on her memories of those long conversations she used to have with Rumplestiltskin, in which he sat by his spinning wheel trying to work as she bounced around the shack, unable to keep quiet.

"Uh, no, I don't think so."

"Weird, she certainly has a small bump here, but it could be just fat skin."

Suddenly the book disappeared from her hands, appearing in Rumple's. Alice swallowed when she saw that he was standing there right in front of them, hugging the travel book close to his chest, eyes fixed on the floor.

"It was a baby," he confirmed. "We lost it."

"Oh," Robin mumbled.

"Rumplestiltskin," Alice exclaimed, surprised. "We didn't mean to..."

"Of course, you did, you were dying to see all the pictures. You're just like her."

He had mentioned it a couple of times before, how her talkative way and curiosity reminded him of his deceased wife and how it really annoyed him sometimes, but Alice couldn't help herself. She really thought she would like this Belle if they got to known each other.

"I'm sorry."

"We really wanted that, another child. A chance of doing things right, from the very start and she was glowing with happiness when we found out," Rumple told them. "But then one night she started to bleed and it was all lost. She never wanted to try again."

His voice was sad and low and she had never heard something so heart-breaking before. Alice thought her own experiences in life had been painful enough, but after she started to make friends, she realised maybe other people had been through worse circumstances.

"Have you ever told this to anyone?" Robin asked.

"No," the imp shook his head. "I was very personal, but it didn't matter anymore. I'm going to reunite with her soon in a place where pain doesn't exist."

"Rumple..." Alice murmured.

He walked towards her placing a little basket he had in hands - which was full of strawberries - in front of her.

"I brought them for you."

"Thanks."

She watched as he left the shack, still hugging the book firmly, head down. From all people she thought he deserved the most beautiful of the happy endings.

"He cares a lot about you," Robin pointed out, "as if you're the daughter he didn't have the chance to have."

"I have a father that I love very much and I've been separated from him."

"And I have a mother, but both of us were raise by one parent only, we stick to them, but it doesn't mean there aren't other people playing an important role in our lives too," her girlfriend explained. "Rumplestiltskin have been taking care of you for years now."

Alice swallowed. It was true, he may not be her beloved papa and may never replace him, but he definitely loved her and she needed to admit that after everything he had done in the past few years, she loved him equeally.

"I'll miss the old man when he is gone," Alice said. "But I'll be happy that he'll finally be with her."

Robin passed an arm around her shoulders, pulling the girl close and kissing her forehead.

"I want to have this kind of True Love with you, the one that lasts longer than death," she whispered. "Eternal."

"Promise me we won't be separated?" Alice pleaded.

Cupping her cheeks Robin deposited another kiss to her lips, murmuring against them: "By any means."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I'm so sorry if there is anything wrong with my writing, English is not my first language.


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